Мерзифонлы Қара Мұстафа Паша: Осман империясының соңғы кеңеюінің күйреуі

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1676 to 1683

Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha (; Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous of Merzifon"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and Grand Vizier of Turkish origin, who was a central character in the Ottoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into both Central and Eastern Europe.

Kara Mustafa Pasha was of Turkish origin. However, he was brought up in the Köprülü family, of Albanian origin. How he entered the family and the details of his marriage are unclear. Within the household's inner service (enderun), he held the positions of letter carrier (telhisci, or assistant to the grand vizier) He was particularly "unbearable to Europeans", especially for the heavy taxes he imposed (a "stream of avanias in the years 1676 1683"). Even though his adoptive siblings also imposed notable avanias, their reputation with Europeans was not as bad.

In 1683, he launched a campaign northward into Austria in a last effort to expand the Ottoman Empire after more than 150 years of war. By mid July, his 100,000 man army had besieged Vienna (guarded by 10,000 Habsburg soldiers), following in the footsteps of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1529. By September, he had taken a portion of the walls and appeared to be on his way to victory. But on 12 September 1683, a Polish army under King John III Sobieski took advantage of dissent within the Ottoman military command and poor disposition of his troops, winning the Battle of Vienna with a devastating flank attack led by Sobieski's Polish Winged Hussars. The Ottomans retreated into Hungary, much of which was subsequently conquered by the Habsburgs and their Holy League allies. The defeat cost Mustafa his position, and ultimately, his life. On 25 December 1683, Kara Mustafa was executed in Belgrade at the order of Mehmed IV. He suffered death by strangulation with a silk cord, which was the method of capital punishment inflicted on high ranking persons in the Ottoman Empire. His last words were, "Am I to die?" and "As God pleases." Kara Mustafa Pasha's family and descendant tree can be found via Turkey's Directorate General of Foundations. Kara Mustafa Pasha's legacy in modern Turkey is mixed. Whereas historians describe him either as a capable tactician or reckless commander, Kemal Atatürk held a sympathetic view of the man. It is said that, while attending a lecture at an Ankara institution in 1933, at which a professor spoke disparagingly of Kara Mustafa Pasha, Atatürk spoke up in favour of Kara Mustafa, arguing that marching an army of 173,000 men from Constantinople to Vienna, the "heart of Europe", was a colossal undertaking for any commander, and that the only other person who came close to such a feat was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent himself. Kara Mustafa's birthplace near Merzifon district was renamed Karamustafapaşa in his honour.

In the 2012 Polish and Italian historical drama film September Eleven 1683 about the Battle of Vienna, Kara Mustafa Pasha is portrayed by Italian actor Enrico Lo Verso.